


Patisserie Quest

by Kozakura_Mizushima, skylight (Fluffy_Cinna_Bun)



Category: Yumeiro Pâtissière
Genre: Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2019-01-27
Packaged: 2019-05-08 02:11:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 16,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14684264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kozakura_Mizushima/pseuds/Kozakura_Mizushima, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluffy_Cinna_Bun/pseuds/skylight
Summary: A Yumeiro Patisserie fanfiction:This story follows Ichigo's and Fumika's journey to becoming the world's greatest patissieres. They face many obstacles but never give up. Read and join them on their quest to see what adventures await.UPDATING ON SATURDAYS.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Skylight: Hey guys! This is skylight and I’m the author of this series! This idea popped into my mind, and I decided I wanted to collaborate with Kozakura Mizushima on this series! It will also be published on Quotev, Wattpad, and FFN. The story will be about Amano Ichigo and Fumika, Kozakura’s OC, and their adventures in the world of Yumeiro Patissiere. It will roughly follow canon for the first few chapters. I will be writing Ichigo’s point of view and Kozakura will be writing Fumika’s. We will also somewhat edit each other’s part to fit together. Hope everyone enjoys this story! ^-^
> 
> Kozakura: Hey Everyone! Thanks for clicking on our story. My name is Kozakura and i’m a co-author of this series. As Skylight said, we both decide to collaborate on this story. It will be about Yumeiro Patissiere. I hope everybody likes this story! I will be writing my 3rd person POV. Let go, Minna! (^‿^✿)

Ichigo’s POV

 

Amano Ichigo stared outside the bus window, knees bouncing impatiently, thoughts racing. It was her first day at St. Marie Gakuen, and she couldn’t wait to get to the school. She didn’t want to be late on her first day, after all.

Her attention was caught on a girl with long pink hair standing outside the bus waiting. She was wearing the same uniform as Ichigo. ‘Oh! That girl must also go to St. Marie… I should try and talk to her once she gets on.‘

Ichigo perked up, watching the girl struggle onto the bus with her giant suitcase. The girl looked over to her, seemingly weighing the pros and cons of sitting with Ichigo.

 

~☆~

Fumika’s POV

 

Fumika walked into the bus with her suitcase and looked for a seat. Her sweet spirit whispered to her and Fumika looked over to Ichigo.

“Oh look, I think that's her over there.” Fumika’s sweet spirit, Sucre, whispered. Henri-sensei had told her about Amano Ichigo just a few days ago. Fumika nodded, agreeing.

Fumika walked over to her. “Hey, Is this seat taken? I saw that you had the same uniform as I did.” She said politely. She shifted her hair slightly out of her face.

“No, It's not.” Ichigo shuffled in and let Fumika sit down next her. “Are you going to St. Marie Gakuen as well?”

“Yes, I was invited to the school by Henri-sensei. He told me it was a great school for me to test my skills.” Fumika explained.

“Me too! Henri-sensei said I had talent and he believed I would do well in the school.” Ichigo exclaimed.

“I'm Nijino Fumika, It's nice to meet you. And your name is?” Fumika greeted holding out her hand. She already knew her name, but she didn’t want to divulge that information yet.

“I'm Amano Ichigo, It’s nice meet you too.” Ichigo greeted.

Fumika’s other sweet spirit, Blizzard, moved into view on top of Fumika’s head to greet Ichigo, but she didn't say anything.

‘It seem she can't see them. I guess she doesn't have a sweets spirit.’ Fumika thought.

Ichigo looked out the window worriedly. “Are you sure we're on the right bus?”

 

~☆~

Ichigo’s POV

 

“It’s just, the school seems to be moving farther and farther away each time I look at it.” Ichigo said, watching what she believed to be the school slowly going out of sight.

“What? You mean you haven't heard about St. Marie before?” Fumika questioned, shocked.

Ichigo tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“...It's nothing, we're almost there.” Fumika assured her. Ichigo was curious as to what Fumika was going to say, but she stopped herself from asking her. After all, there was a reason that Fumika kept it from her, and she would most likely find out once she reached the school anyway.

All in all, Ichigo was relieved that Fumika had talked to her first. She wasn’t sure if things would’ve gone so smoothly had she done her introductions first.

The bus bumped on for several minutes before Fumika spoke. “Okay, we're here.” The girls grabbed their suitcases and exited the bus.

“Follow me.” Fumika ordered, walking in the direction of the school, or where Ichigo assumed was the school anyway. She dragged her suitcase behind her.

Ichigo ran after her, tripping a few times, almost falling on her face. Had she not brought her suitcase, it would’ve been a much smoother walk. Ichigo wished that she had accepted the offer of moving in her suitcase into the dorms before her first day there.

 

~☆~

Fumika’s POV

 

Fumika glanced back at Ichigo to see her almost tripping again. She sweat dropped. “Did Henri really recommend her? It seems as if she‘s a total klutz.” Galexi, Fumika’s third sweets spirit, said.

“You never know, She could turn out to be a prodigy. We shouldn't judge before we see her skills.” Sucre claimed.

“I, for one, think that's she's amateur who know nothing about pastries.” Blizzard stated.

“Alright guys, that's enough. We'll see her skills once we get to the school.” Fumika hushed her spirits.

“Yes ma’am.”

As they reached the school, Ichigo let out a sound of amazement. “WOW! This school is so big! Do you think we’ll get lost here?”

Fumika looked at her as if she was crazy. “I doubt we'll get lost, They’re supposed to send someone to guide you around the school.”

~☆~

Ichigo’s POV

 

“Oh, I see.” Ichigo nodded, silently noting that and continued on her way to the entrance. She spotted a statue of a beautiful woman in front of her. Ichigo ran over to the statue.

“Hey, That's a really pretty statue! Who’s that person?” Ichigo asked.

Fumika face palmed, although Ichigo did not see her do so. “That's a sculpture of the Sweets Queen. There’s a ‘legend’ that she of Sweets Spirits, who will grant chefs who are on the right track to becoming a great patisserie the ability to see them.

Ichigo gasped.” That's an amazing story! I wonder if she’s real. I’ll give this madeleine to her so that I can have her blessing.” Ichigo dug the bag containing the madeleine out of her pocket and placed it on the side of the statue.

Fumika also added a transparent bag of mini macarons next to Ichigo’s sweets.

A girl with orange hair walked towards them, smiling and extending her right hand out. ” You must be Amano Ichigo. I'm Rumi, your roommate!”

“It's nice to meet you Rumi. I look forward to rooming with you in the future!” Ichigo let her suitcase handle go to shake Rumi’s hand.

“Same here.” Rumi agreed. She turns to Fumika. “Are you a transfer student as well?”

“Yes, I'm Nijino Fumika. It's a pleasure to meet, Rumi.” Fumika greeted.

“Oh, It's nice to meet you too, Fumika. Let’s head in right now so I can show Ichigo her room.”

 

~☆~

Fumika’s POV

 

They headed into the building and Rumi Ied Ichigo to her room. After she showed Ichigo her living spaces, the three walked to class. Fumika watched in amusement as she saw Ichigo bump into the three Sweets Princes individually, all in one row. The green haired one gifted Ichigo a bouquet of roses that was made out of candy.

Ichigo watched them go in awe, eyes sparkling at their beautiful creations.

“I sense spirits, Could it be that the princes have Sweets Spirits?” Fumika whispered to her Sweets Spirits, who were hiding in her hair.

“The possibility of that is very high. I would keep a close eye on them if I were you.” Galexi advised. Fumika nodded.

They reached the door of the classroom, and Rumi opened the door. “I’ll go to my group. You guys go ahead and wait for the teacher to come in so she can introduce you two to the class.”

“Okay.” Ichigo stood in front of the class as awkwardly bunch of girls crowded around the princes while Fumika stayed beside the doorway.

The teacher arrived, and Ichigo brought Fumika along with her to the front of the class. The teacher looked at them both and scanned her attendance sheet.

“Okay class, today we have two new students recommended by Henri-sensei himself. Unfortunately he has already returned to Paris, but he has brought along two students that he believes are capable of achieving great things. Please give a warm welcome these two girls.”

“Hi everyone! I’m Ichigo and I hope we’ll all get along well!”

“My name's Fumika, It's a pleasure to meet you.” She bowed. This would be an interesting year.


	2. OC Info

Name: Nijino Fumika

age: 15

personality: She's a calm and cool person who doesn't smile much. 

Bio: She was born into a rich family and has been alone almost ever since childhood. She attended a meeting of her father's business men when she was 11 year old and that's where she meet Henri Lucas. He offered her his sweets and she was awestruck. they meet up a lot after that when Henri would sneak desserts he made for her. One day they meet up in the to kitchen where Henri noticed that she had a prodigy talent and offered to tutor her into an Patissiere. He taught her many things and now her goal is to become a Patissiere worth of him by surpassing him. 

Sweets Spirit 1: Sucre  
Name: Sucre

Specialty: Sugar sweets

Personality: She's sweet and tends to be a mother to other spirits. She's the kind that takes care of those all around the sweets kingdom.

Sweets Spirit 2: Cream (Formerly known as Blizzard)  
Name: Cream

Specialty: Whipped cream, cream sweets

Personality: She tends to be a professional but can sometimes be like Sucre and calm down other sweets spirits.

Sweets Spirit 3: Galexi  
Name: Galexi

Specialty: Galaxy designed sweets

Personality: A tsundere. She sometimes says things she doesn't actually mean but is usually very blunt. She is kind and nice usual only around Fumika and those she approves of.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skylight: So, we're going to make a chapter for character description, to describe Fumika and her Sweets Spirits. It's going to be released soon, so keep an eye out for it!
> 
> Kozakura: Hey guys! So, as promised, Here is the 2nd chapter! Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy （＾ω＾). As Skylight said, the description will be posted soon after this chapter and I will describe my oc. Just so everyone knows, I will be changing my sweets spirit Blizzard into Cream.

~.~.~  
Fumika’s POV 

“Amano-san, Nijino-san, you two will be in group A.” Ameiya-sensei announced. The class turned to Ichigo and Fumika, shocked, but Fumika didn't see what was so amazing about it.

“A-Alright.” Ichigo stuttered.

“That's amazing, Ichigo-chan. Group A is where the sweets princes are! The group’s results are the top of the class!” Rumi shouted, making her way to Ichigo’s side.

Ichigo gasped, eyes wide. “You’re kidding! Why am I joining that group?!”

Out of the corner of Fumika’s eyes, she saw a glowing pink ball floating in midair and knew that it was a Sweets Spirit.

The class murmured about the two girls, however, some people didn’t approve, and Group B were displeased with this decision.

"Today we'll be making mille crepes- mille in French means a thousand. Create multiple crepes, spreading the cream on top of each crepe as you layer them. It will create a cake-like pastry. That's how you make it. Well then, please begin." Ameiya said.

As the girls went to their station. Fumika thought, ‘Well, this is going to be easy.'

~☆~  
Ichigo’s POV

‘This is going to be so hard! I’ve never made mille crepes before.” Ichigo silently lamented, staring at the bowl of eggs that were being passed around. ‘But, I have to do my best.’

Satsuki Hanabusa, the Candy Prince, passed the bowl of eggs to Ichigo. He smiled, “Do your best, Ichigo-chan!”

Ichigo nods nervously, noticing all the gazes on her with each move she makes. “Uhm… ok.”

‘I have to do my best.’ Ichigo reached out, retrieving an egg. Her shaking hands gripped the egg too tightly, causing the egg to break. Ichigo gasped, sweating furiously. “The egg! What a waste...”

Ichigo looked around, everyone’s curious stares on her. “What are you doing?” A deadpan voice asked her. It was Kashino Makoto, the Chocolate Prince.

Ichigo looked down at her hands, face flushing. ‘It’s really embarrassing to make a mistake in a situation like this.’

Hanabusa gave a gentle smile, “Don’t be nervous, Ichigo-chan. There are still a lot of eggs left.”

Sennosuke Andou, the Japanese Sweets Prince, looked up from his mixing, “Calm down and try again.”

Fumika looked across to Ichigo, “Yeah, it’s fine Ichigo. Just take your time.”

“Hanabusa-kun, Andou-kun, Fumika-chan… thank you all.” Ichigo looked at them with a grateful smile.

“You three, don’t bother her. If somebody does something weird, the whole group will be punished for it.” Kashino gave a death glare to Ichigo. “I don’t want to be dragged down.”

“I’m sorry.” Ichigo apologized, fidgeting with her hands.

Kashino looked away, back to focusing on his mille crepe. “If you have time to apologize, you should make better pastries.”

‘Why is he so mean?!’ Ichigo huffed. She glanced at him to see him spreading another scoop of batter onto his pan. A look at Andou and Hanabusa showed how professionally they prepared their mille crepes.Fumika was humming and swinging her hips as she poured another layer and spread it.

Ichigo stared, amazed at all of their movements. “Everyone’s movements are so fluid and composed.” Fumika started spreading the cream gracefully, looking just like how Henri-sensei had looked when he was creating his Angel Cake.

~☆~  
Fumika’s POV 

Fumika laid the 3rd to last layer onto the stack and began to spread another batch of cream as she continued humming.

Fumika sniffed the air and thought she smelled something burning, but shrugged it off, thinking it was just her.

“My mille crepes are done.” Kashino informed the teacher. Fumika directed her gaze to Makoto, who was having his tasted by Ameya-sensei.

The class commented on how fast he was and that it looks delicious.”Nothing to criticize about the shape and taste. It's flawless, Kashino. You'll be able to open up shop soon.” Ameya-sensei complemented. 

Kashino only nodded as thanks.”Sensei! I'm done.” Andou called.

“I'm finished as well.” Hanabusa said.

“Hanabusa and Andou have both passed. Amano-san, Nijino-san, Have you both finished yet?” Fumika finished the final preparations on her Mille crepe.

“Sensei, mine is complete!” Fumika shouted, cutting a piece of the mille crepe and pushing it out toward Ameya-sensei, who walked toward her and tasted it. 

“This taste… it's dense, creamy, moist flavor with a delightful texture arranged in just one bite. It's like it's exploding in my mouth.” Ameya-sensei gasped

The class all murmured with amazement at Fumika’s sweets.”Thank you very much, Ameya-sensei. My Mille crepes were made with maple-scotch cream and caramelized sugar on top. In French, it's called a Gateau Mille crepe.” Fumika explained. 

“I'm impressed! Nijino Fumika, pass.” Ameya-sensei announced. 

~☆~  
Ichigo’s POV

After Ameya-sensei’s review of Fumika’s mille crepe, she turned to Ichigo. “Ichigo, are you done with your mille crepe?”

“Um, y-yeah.”

Ichigo gulped as Ameya-sensei walked towards her. She was even more nervous after seeing Fumika’s excellent performance. Fumika was as new to Saint Marie as Ichigo was, but she seemed to be taking everything into stride, while Ichigo was… well, failing miserably.  
“Here…” Ichigo muttered, picking up her plate and showing the mille crepe to Ameya-sensei.

“You’re not kidding me, are you?” Ameya-sensei had an expression of disbelief and bewilderment, raking her eyes over the burnt mess of a pastry that Ichigo had made. She tentatively tasted it, and turned away so that Ichigo could not see her face.

“I’m sorry.” Ichigo mumbled, looking at her group’s finished products and comparing them with hers. ‘There really is a big difference.’

Ameya-sensei wiped her mouth, picking up her pen and scribbling on her board. “Group A, minus ten points.”

Ichigo couldn’t help but notice Kashino’s look of horror. Ichigo’s heart sank, guilt overtaking her. Not only was there the guilt, there was also the humiliation of failure. Her classmates murmured to themselves, but unlike when Fumika showed her creation, they had looks of confusion and disapproval.

Ichigo felt her face and the tips of her ears burn. She wished she could just disappear.

~☆~  
Fumika’s POV 

Fumika’s face was filled with disbelief and confusion, finally understanding where the burnt smell originated from.

“Umm… I've never made mille crepes before. More like, I-I’m a complete beginner at making pastries!” Ichigo confessed, gripping her skirt.

The whole class gasped with surprised and Fumika face was filled with complete shock.”Well, not only is she a klutz, she's an absolute beginner.” Galexi huffed.

“Oh my! I can't believe it! Why did Henri-sensei recommend her?” Cream exclaimed

Fumika watched as Kashino berated Ichigo, each sentence seemingly becoming harsher and harsher than the last.

Ichigo felt tears running down her face as she ran out of the room. Fumika shook her head, making a mental note to tell Henri later.

Fumika sat in the cafeteria with the Sweets Princes, eating her food as Rumi asked her classmates if they had seen Ichigo.

They all replied that they hadn't seen her. “Where could she have gone?” Andou asked.

“That was really harsh for a transfer students first day. I pity her. I wonder if she's okay.” Hanabusa stated, concerned.

“Hanabusa’s right.”

“See even Fumika-”

“However.” Fumika interrupted.” She need to stop being naive. She can't just expect to become a patissiere taking baby steps. She better learn fast or else, she really is a lost cause.”

~☆~  
Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo sniffled, watching the bus pass by her. She had never been a source of pride in her family, and she had hoped that going to Saint Marie would change all that. However, it seemed that that was not the case. She wanted to make her grandmother proud in heaven, especially since she was such a large figure in her life.

It seemed like it was hopeless, after all.

No. 

She couldn’t quit now. Henri-sensei had given her such a great opportunity and she was not going to let it go to waste. Ichigo stood up from the bus bench, taking off her blazer to cover herself as she ran back to the school.

‘I’ll be the greatest patissiere that ever lived, grandma! I won’t let you down.’

~.~.~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes
> 
> Skylight: Hi! I know we’ve been sticking pretty close to canon so far, but we’re going to start changing the plot little by little. Fumika’s role in there will act as the butterfly (as in the Butterfly Effect).
> 
> Kozakura: Hey everyone! (^‿^✿) The plot is going to gradually differ a little from the anime soon so ever look forward to the next chapters that are coming Wednesday. (ㅇㅅㅇ❀) 
> 
> Hope to see you next Wednesday! And again, thanks for reading, and if you liked it, please add this to your library! BTW, the OC info for Fumika and her Sweets Spirits has already been posted along with this chapter! Please check it out! ^v^


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skylight: Hey everyone! We’ve decided to make more updates, since it seems like a weekly update is wayyy too long to wait for a chapter, and we write our chapters pretty fast anyway. We will be updating two times every week now, on Wednesday like we normally do, and then on Saturday on the same week.
> 
> Kozakura: Hey everyone here's the next chapter and as Skylight said, The next chapter will come out this Saturday. We decided to do this because we finished chapter 2 four days before we were supposed to update and decided that one time a week was too much time so from now on, we're updating two days a week.

Ichigo POV

“Ouch… it hurts. Landing failed.”

Ichigo blinked at the tiny fairy in front of her that had fell onto the table moments after the painting of the Queen was engulfed in light. Huh… was this a mirage? Had she been working too hard? She pinched herself, and to her surprise, she felt pain after all.

“Bonjour! I'm Vanilla, your Sweets Spirit, at your service!”

So Sweets Spirits were real. Ichigo leaned down to inspect the blonde fairy- Vanilla. “Oh… I didn't think you would be this small.”

Vanilla narrowed her eyes, swinging her golden spoon out to hit Ichigo on the cheek, not far from where she had pinched it. “Ouch!”

“That's rude, you know! Although I'm small, I can make great pastries.” Vanilla chided, waving her pointer finger up at Ichigo.

“Oh, I'm sorry.” Ichigo laughed nervously, scratching the back of her head. “Can you make my dreams become reality? Is that true?”

Vanilla lit up, her bright blue eyes exuding approval. “Of course! Your dream is to make delicious sweets, right?”

“Yes! Thank you very much for helping me!”

Ichigo waited, a smile stuck to her face as Vanilla instructed her to remake a crepe. With Vanilla’s magic, surely she would be able to make perfectly delicious sweets in no time!

Vanilla huffed when Ichigo expressed that sentiment, watching Ichigo dump the burnt crepes into the trash can. “I can make you a better patisserie by tutoring you, but you still need practice to become better! Nothing in life comes that easily.”

… Ichigo took back that statement. She sighed. There would be a very long and harsh journey ahead of her.

Fumika POV

Fumika finished her meal and wiped her mouth, getting up to throw her trash away before walking out of the cafeteria. “Wasn’t that a little harsh? Shouldn’t we go look for her?” Sucre questioned.

“I say she should learn to grow up.” Galexi huffed. She floated in front of Fumika as they walked in the halls, crossing her arms.

“Galexi! That’s mean.” Cream scolded, gasping at her straightforward remark. “What’s gonna happen to Ichigo? She might get into trouble…”

“Enough guys, what happens next is none of our business. It’s up to Ichigo to decide what she wants to do.” Fumika stated, opening the door to her room.

Fumika scanned her room, walking towards her desk when she noticed her phone on it. This morning, she had been in such a rush that she had forgotten to bring it with her to class. Fumika flipped it open, tilting her head when a ‘Missed Call’ notification flashed on the screen.” Henri? What could he possibly want?” Fumika questioned, dialing his number.

“Hello? Henri? Did you call me for something?” Fumika asked.

“Yes, I just wanted to ask you how your first day was.” Henri replied.

“It was alright, I meet Ichigo and I have to say, I'm kinda skeptical about her abilities. She's a total beginner. Will she really be alright?” Fumika reported.

“I think she has an untapped potential. You should keep a close eye on her.” Henri suggested.”Also, we should appoint a time when we call each other so we’ll know when we’re available.”

“Alright I guess, let's call each other around the time classes end. I’ll text you my schedule.” Fumika agreed. “I'll go look for Ichigo right now.”

“Okay, be careful, I'll be waiting for your text. Bye.” Henri said, hanging up.

Fumika sighed, closing her flip phone and getting up. “Looks like we're going to look for her after all. Anybody got a suggestion?”

“Why not try her room? She may be there or maybe her roommate knows where she is.” Cream suggested.

“I'd rather stay here.” Galexi rolled her eyes.

“Okay. Galexi, you stay here. Sucre, Cream, you two follow me.” Fumika said. They headed for Ichigo’s room but she wasn't there, and Rumi didn't know where she was either. The next few minutes were filled with Fumika searching all over the school for Ichigo. Sucre yawned, stretching her arms out. “I’m gonna head back to the dorm now, good luck with your search!” Sucre cheered as she she slowly flew away.

Fumika nodded, continuing to search for Ichigo until she opened the doors to the kitchen. There she was, along with a messy kitchen full of used materials. 

~☆~  
Ichigo POV

Ichigo was carefully moving a crepe from the pan into the plate with words of encouragement from Vanilla when someone walked in. She turned around to greet the person, eyes widening when she noticed that it was Fumika, as well as a Sweets Spirit floating besides her. She gasped, jumping excitedly and dropping her crepe onto the table, running towards Fumika. “Fumika! You have a Sweets Spirits too?”

Vanilla whirled around and followed Ichigo to the two. Fumika’s reply was a nod and a short, “Yes.”

Vanilla’s eyes sparkled when she realised that the Sweets Spirit was very familiar. “Cream! I haven’t seen you in such a long time. How has life been in the human world?” She flew up to her, eagerly fluttering her wings.

Cream patted Vanilla’s head, beaming. “I see you haven’t changed at all, have you, Vanilla? The human world’s been amazing!”

The two fairies flew to the nearest table to sit down and chat, while Ichigo and Fumika continued to stand where they were.

“Fumika, why didn't you tell me that you had a Sweets Spirit before? You said that it was just a legend.” Ichigo looked at Fumika, her eyes wide and curious. “I didn't know that Sweets Spirits were real until Vanilla showed up!”

Fumika tapped her index finger against her cheek. “I wonder… I guess I just didn't want you to get a Sweets Spirits if you didn't have the ambition. If you had known that there really were Sweets Spirits, you would've been too affected by it.”

“Oh, I see! Thank you, Fumika!” Ichigo looked pleased, having gotten her explanation.

“Aren't you forgetting something?” Fumika asked Ichigo moments later.

“Something? I don't…” Ichigo trailed off, nose wrinkling as she sniffed the air. There was something burning. “OH! Vanilla! We forgot to finish the mille crepe!”

~☆~

Fumika’s POV 

Fumika sighed, getting tired of Ichigo rambling on about Sweet Spirits. It had been a few weeks since she discovered Ichigo had a sweets spirit, but Ichigo seemed like she would never get tired of that subject.

From the corner of Fumika’s eye, she saw Andou walk by and, judging from the surprised look on his face, he heard Ichigo’s rambling about sweet spirits.

Fumika decided to add more hints to their conversation.”Ichigo, why did spirit choose you?”

Ichigo seemed to consider that thought. “I'm not really sure why. I'll ask Vanilla later.”

Fumika nodded distractedly, noticing Andou going to the other Sweets Princes and whispering, throwing looks at the two girls. 

Fumika smirked. Her plan had most likely succeeded. She turned her attention back to her pastry, finishing the final touches to the chocolate creation.

Fumika watched as Ameya-sensei came over and graded their cakes. Ichigo presented her creation which was a chocolate fruit roll.” The Angel Devil fruit roll!” She exclaimed.

The teacher tasted it and nodded.”You've improved, Ichigo. Alright everyone, you may taste each others sweets now.”

Fumika noticed that Ichigo’s eye lit up.”Can I really taste everybody’s sweets?!” At her slight nod, Ichigo quickly started going around, grabbing a little bit of everything from all of the other groups.

Fumika shook her head, walking over to the Sweets Princes, who were tasting Ichigo’s roll.

”It's delicious, Ichigo.” Hanabusa complimented, once Ichigo had gotten back from her taste testing.

“Yeah, it's good. The two chocolates create a good balance." Andou added.

“Really?" Fumika tasted the sweets, and Ichigo turned to her and Kashino.

“Come on, tell us how it is you two." Hanabusa urged.

"The cream is stiff. You beat it too much." Kashino stated bluntly.

"Eh?!" Ichigo screeched.

“But among everything Amano had made till now, this is the most delicious." Kashino said, a small smile on his face.

“D-did you just say it was delicious?" Ichigo stammered, blinking her eyes quickly.

 

“Y-yeah."

“Really? You didn't think it was ordinary or something?" Ichigo questioned, her suspicious gaze on Kashino.

 

“I'm honestly praising you here!" Kashino shouted angrily.

“He rarely praises people so he's embarrassed." Andou whispered to her.

 

“It's delicious right, Fumika?" Hanabusa turned to the girl that had yet to speak.

They all glanced at Fumika. “Kashino was right. The cream is too stiff. Although it's true that there are two different types of chocolate, you've completely ignored the bittersweet balance." 

Ichigo sighed, depressed at Fumika's judgment. “However." Fumika interrupted before Hanabusa or Andou could speak.

“Your decoration is pretty creative and the fruits weren't a bad idea. The bitter chocolate was also good. If you keep practicing, I'm sure you'll get it one day." Fumika stated, wiping her lips.

 

Ichigo cheered up when she heard that until a tiny voice interrupted."I won't approve of you though!" 

 

Kashino looked down at his pocket that was rustling, trying to stop something. "Those childish cakes."

 

"H-hey Chocolat.." Kashino said shakily, failing to contain the Sweets Spirit from escaping his pocket.

~☆~

Ichigo’s POV

‘Kashino has a Sweets Spirit too?’ Ichigo opened her mouth to defend herself, but no words came out. Ichigo saw Kashino wince as he watched closely for her response.

An aggressive yell was all the warning that the group got before Vanilla burst out from under Ichigo’s hat, charging towards Kashino’s fairy. “HEY CHOCOLAT! Don’t you dare insult my partner!”

“Vanilla?” Chocolat looked shocked, but composed herself and let out a snobby sounding huff. “It seems fitting that your partner is such a childish person… just like you!”

“What was that?” Vanilla shook with anger. “It seems to me that it’s more fitting that you have a such a stuck-up, stubborn partner!”

The two fairies glared at each other. Vanilla rolled up her sleeves, clenching her fists. Ichigo, sensing an incoming fight, squeaked with dismay.

“That's enough, you two!” Another tiny voice, rather boyish this time, shouted. Ichigo turned to find a blue-haired fairy flying towards the fighting Sweets Spirits. He flew in between the two, pushing them farther away from each other.

“Waaa… please don't fight!” A different voice stuttered. An orange-haired Sweets Spirit rushed to help, only to trip over air and fall onto a table, rolling into a sink along the way. She sniffed and started crying, giant globs of tears rolling down her cheeks.

Andou walked over to help his fairy up while Ichigo watched the scene helplessly. Her gaze darted from the Vanilla and Chocolat’s fight to Andou and his Sweets Spirit.

Cream came out from Fumika’s hair and went to aid Andou’s fairy. “There there, It's okay. They’ve stopped fighting, see?”

Hanabusa and Kashino eventually came to calm the chaos that had occured. After the five fairies sat down on the edge of the table, Chocolat suddenly piped up, “Hey, who are you?” The question was directed to Cream, who had joined them at the table.

 

“I’m Cream! I’m Fumika’s Sweets Spirit.” Cream stood up to bow. “It’s nice to meet you all! What are all your names? I already knew Vanilla since we were friends in the Sweets Kingdom.”

“I’m Chocolat, as you’ve probably heard, thanks to this loudmouth.” Chocolat narrowed her eyes at Vanilla.

“Hey! If I’m loud, then you’re a sonic blaster!”

Before Chocolat could reply and start fight all over again, the boy fairy interrupted. “My name is Cafe, my lady.”

“And my name is Caramel!”

Ichigo paid close attention to their introductions, noting their names in her mind. Although the Sweets Spirits were quite strange, they all were very interesting. She looked forward to getting to know them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOW UPDATING ON WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS, 6PM-8PM EDT.
> 
> Skylight: I just wanted to add that on the bottom for those who don’t read the author’s note, but yeah! We will be updating more frequently now. Anyway, this chapter was written very last minute due to some changes in our schedule, but we still managed to write almost double the amount that we usually do. I don’t know what this says about us haha…


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skylight: Hey! There was a lot of stuff happening in the last few days so we couldn't write much for this chapter. We will have a longer chapter next week. See you then ^-^
> 
> Kozakura: Thank you all for reading, We had to fix a few thing but here's the chapter on time. look forward to the chapter that's also coming next Wednesday. Thank you, enjoy (~‾∇‾)~

Ichigo’s POV

Yesterday, Ichigo had been further introduced to the Sweets Spirits after class. Chocolat seemed mean, but she had a soft spot for Kashino. Cafe was a gentleman, but he was also a bit of a playboy, Caramel was a total sweetheart, and Cream was a very maternal sort of fairy. They all specialized what their name suggested. Although most of the Sweets Spirit’s specialties did not match their partners, Kashino’s and Chocolat matched very well.

Speaking of Kashino...

Ichigo looked at Kashino out of the corner of her eyes, watching him as he waited for Ameya-sensi to come by their table to grade their pastries. His behavior towards her was truly confusing. One moment he would be complimenting her cooking, and the next he would be glaring at her, expression stone cold as he berated her for another one of her mistakes.

“What is it?” Kashino said, furrowing his brows. Ichigo startled, meeting his gaze. “If you’re going to say something, don’t just stand there and stare at me.”

Ichigo quickly looked away. “I- I wasn’t staring at you! Besides, I bet that you’re the one who has something to say to me.”

Kashino blinked. "What do you mean?"

"Do you hate me?" Ichigo said. Kashino's shocked face only fueled her to continue. "I don't understand why you're so mean to me all the time. It seems like I'm the only one who gets this kind of treatment!"

Kashino huffed as he ran his hand through his hair. "I don't hate you, Ichigo. Not at all. I just…” He sighed. “I have to stay at the top of my class, and if you’re constantly making mistakes and, well, losing our points… I just ca- don't want to lose my place.”

Ichigo winced and dragged her feet against the floor. “A-ah, um, I see. I’ll, um, try not to lose points anymore.”

“...Yeah.” Kashino looked away.

The two stood by each other silently. Ichigo twiddled her thumbs. ‘Ahh! It’s so awkward now. I shouldn’t have asked him something like that.’ 

Thankfully, at that time, Ameya-sensei arrived to grade the group. “Kashino-san, are you completed with your assignment?”

“Yes, I am.” Kashino showed his cake to Ameya-sensei while Ichigo fidgeted and looked at her own cake. Although it wasn’t pretty or professional by any means, Ichigo still thought that it tasted pretty good, compared to her past creations. Hopefully this cake wouldn’t lose any points.

“Good, Kashino-san. The cake’s taste is rich and savory, with slight hints of bitterness produced by the thin layer of dark chocolate inside that compliments the entire cake overall. Full points.”

“Thank you.”

Ameya-sensei turned to Ichigo. “Amano-san, are you done?”

Ichigo leaned forwards, nodding. “Yes, Ameya-sensei! This is my take on the strawberry shortcake. I adjusted the recipe to make the cake softer and fluffier, and added a concentration of strawberry juice so that the cake contains a stronger strawberry flavor.”

Ameya-sensei tasted it, closing her eyes. “It’s a bit too sweet.”

Ichigo slumped her shoulders. ‘Kashino gonna yell at me again for losing points.’ She thought defeatedly.

“However, it’s not bad, Amano-san. Although the cake’s strawberry flavor is strong, it does not overtake the rest of the flavors. It is fluffy and light, and quite pleasant to eat. Full points.”

‘Full points?’ “Full points?” Ichigo echoed her thoughts. Although she had gotten full points before, it was with the help of Vanilla and her teammates, but this time, she had done it all by herself. The design of the recipe, the careful calculation of the amount of strawberry concentrate, everything.

Ichigo whirled around to face Kashino, eyes wide and hands over her mouth. She whispered to him, “Full points!”

He nodded, a soft smile coming to his face. “Full points. Good job, Amano.”

~☆~

Fumika’s POV

Fumika sat on her bed, getting ready for one of her daily calls to Henri-sensei.

“So how's Ichigo been doing?” Sucre asked, floating around bored.

“There's definitely been progress, but she has a lot to learn.” Fumika answered, flipping open her phone and dialing Henri.

“Hey Henri, everything over here is going great. How are things for you in Paris?” Fumika greeted, once Henri picked up.

“I'm packing up and coming to Japan in about a few days. How's everything with Ichigo?” Henri said back.

“Ichigo’s been improving quite a bit but still has a lot to learn, especially with the Grand Prix coming up soon.” Fumika reported.

“That's good to hear. Have you thought about the offer I told you about?” Henri asked.

“I thought about it….and yes. I believe it's the right course of action.” Fumika said.

“Great. We'll talk more about this when I arrive there. Be safe, bye.”

Fumika shut the phone, placing it down. She sighed.

Sucre looked at her curiously. ”What did Henri say?”

“We talked about how he's coming here soon and what we usually talk about.” Fumika answered

Fumika sat up from her bed, walking towards her door. There was a lot she had on her hands, but she didn't want to think about it. The present was what was the most important right now, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skylight: I… don't really know how to write about sweets lol. Hopefully my descriptions made sense.
> 
> Thanks for reading and see ya next week!


	6. Chapter 5

Ichigo’s POV

“Tomorrow we are starting an experimental project where students will have to bring their own ingredients for a cake.” Ameya-sensei stated, eyes scanning her whiteboard. The class had been dismissed early to discuss the project. “The project will be graded on how well you incorporate those ingredients into the final pastry, as well as creativity in deciding the ingredients. Be prepared to take notes on how to create a recipe tomorrow.”

Ichigo looked at her teammates nervously. This was the first time she was given a task like this, so she had no clue what to do. She walked over to Fumika and grabbed her arm, whispering, “Fumika, do you know how to do this project? I don’t really understand it.”

Fumika stared at her. “Ichigo, word of advice. Next time the teacher gives out instructions, pay attention to it.”

“I did!” Ichigo pouted, offended.” I just don't understand what I'm supposed to do.”

Fumika sighed, shaking her head. “Ichigo, it’s perfectly clear what you’re ‘supposed to do’. Find ingredients for a cake and make it creative. It can just be something normal with a twist. That’s all you need to get a good grade.”

Ichigo hummed, furrowing her brows as she thought about what she had to do. ‘But, what kind of cake should I make? Hmm… oh! I got it.’

As soon as Ameya-sensei dismissed the class, Ichigo dragged Fumika out of the kitchen doors. It wasn’t hard to drag her there, but there was a lot of resistance from her. It seemed that Fumika had decided to just give in to Ichigo’s demands after a while, though, because she just rolled her eyes and walked alongside her.

~☆~  
Fumika’s POV

Fumika sighed and decided to just let Ichigo drag her towards… wherever they were going. As they walked outside the building, Fumika noticed that Ichigo was heading towards the forest.

Ichigo bent down and picked up a chestnut. ”I’m sure we can use chestnuts for a cake. I think I’ve heard of chestnut cakes before.”

Fumika shrugged, sighing. “Maybe, depends on if you use it correctly.”

Ichigo continued looking around gathering fruits and chestnuts she can find. Fumika just followed Ichigo while occasionally gathering some fruits.

Ichigo finally stopped and looked around with a confused look.”Um… Where are we?”

Fumika facepalmed, shaking her head at Ichigo, who had started wandering around.

They reach a large white building. ”What a beautiful building! Maybe we can get some help from in there, since it looks like another dorm for Saint Marie.”

Ichigo took off towards the dorm and Fumika followed. They entered and looked around. Fumika spotted a somewhat familiar blonde haired girl. 

Ichigo quickly walked up to her, leaving Fumika standing near the doorway. ”Excuse me!” The girl turned around, and Fumika gasped.

”Mari!” Fumika rushed over to the girl and hugged her. Ichigo squeaked, confused as to why Fumika knew the girl.

“Fumika? What are you doing here?” Mari asked, giving the girl a confused gaze while hugging Fumika back.

“Ichigo decided to look for ingredients for a project that our teacher gave in class today, and we got lost. ” Fumika explained.

Ichigo snapped out of her surprise. She bowed and added to Fumika’s explanation, ”We saw this building and came here to ask for some help.” 

“Oh, I see. Why don't you come to my room and settle down first?” Mari offered. They nodded and followed her to her place.

~☆~  
Ichigo’s POV

Mari Tennouji. Ichigo’s fixed gaze on her did not budge, even as she watched her walk out of the room to get some refreshments for her and Fumika. She had heard wonderful things about her from her classmates, about how she would win the Grand Prix and go to Paris next year.

“Hey, Fumika,” Ichigo said softly. Fumika turned to her, eyes questioning. “What’s the Grand Prix? I know it’s something that I should know, but no one has told me about what it’s really for.”

Fumika gazed at her curiously, “You never saw the posters that the teachers have put up for it? It’s the talk of the school.”

Ichigo nibbled at her bottom lips, racking her brain for any memory of the poster that Fumika was talking about. Although she had seen quite a few posters around the school, she had always disregarded them because she thought that they didn’t relate to her.

“I don’t really remember seeing any posters about it.” Ichigo admitted.

Just then, Mari came back with a plate of sweets. Fumika looked at Ichigo and said, “We’ll discuss the Grand Prix later.”

Ichigo nodded, and promptly forgot the conversation as her attention caught on the sweets. “Oh my gosh! They look delicious!” Ichigo exclaimed, mouth watering as her eyes glanced over each sweet. “May… may I have one?”

“Yes, of course. I brought these sweets so that you two could enjoy it.” Mari responded, setting the plate down. “Please, help yourselves!”

Fumika and Ichigo started eating the sweets, with constant little hums of appreciation coming from Ichigo as she scarfed down sweet after sweet. “This soufflé is really good, Mari-san! Where did you get this from?”

“I baked it myself.” Mari smiled. “I’m sorry that it’s not entirely fresh because I didn’t have enough time to bake for you two. I had to reheat a few soufflés I had made earlier.”

“Did you use honey to make it? It’s sweet and tender. It’s so delicious and it just melts in my mouth.“ Fumika complimented, tasting another spoon full of the soufflé. 

The three chatted about sweets for a while more, but eventually Ichigo and Fumika had to leave. Ichigo was deep in thought as Mari showed them the way back to their dorm. It was no wonder that so many people often talked about her success and her amazing sweets. Ichigo looked forward to the day where she could become as great of a patissiere as Mari was.


	7. Chapter 6

Fumika’s POV

Fumika stood with group A, practicing Choux creme in class and also thinking about what she should make for the project.

“I think it’s really amazing. You two must be the only middle schoolers to be invited into president Tennouji’s room. Fumika even knows her.” Hanabusa commented.

Fumika sighed, rolling her eyes. She would have preferred it if the visit had been kept a secret, but of course Ichigo couldn’t contain it and told the group.

“Rather than being invited, I think it was more of being saved.” Ichigo stated, scratching her hair awkwardly.

“Amano’s a fool after all. She could’ve just checked the market or ordered something online, but instead she goes into the forest and gets lost.” Kashino muttered, focusing on his work.

Fumika stopped her movements and looked up, clearly seeing ichigo’s anger rising. ”Is that so? If I'm such a terrible teammate, then how about you just group up with Ojou-san then?!” Ichigo snapped.

Fumika turned her gaze Kashino and could see his hands beginning to shake. He squeezed too tight and ended up squeezing his cream all over his Choux cremes.” O-Ojou” His fingers visibly twitch.

Kashino paled and his fingers started twitching. Andou immediately went to his side and started calming him down. Fumika tilted her head, confused, thinking that whoever this Ojou was, Kashino was terrified of her.

 

~☆~  
Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo watched as Kashino squirmed, uncomfortable at the mention of Ojou. He deserved it, but Ichigo felt more than a little guilty that she had to use such a tactic on him. She had heard about the girl from Rumi when they were talking about the Grand Prix last night. 

This... Ojou, well, she must've been truly horrifying for someone like Kashino to fear her.

Ichigo watched as Ameya-sensei passed over their table, commenting on their pastries. “Ichigo, you've greatly improved since you enrolled into this school. Your pastries are much, much more skillfully made. Full points.”

Even if Ichigo had wanted to stop herself from smiling from ear to ear, she wouldn't be able to.

She basked in the compliment, but was soon interrupted by Fumika pulling her aside. “Ichigo, have you thought about what to do for your project yet? We still have a few days to make the recipe, but it's better to be prepared beforehand.”

“Yep! I've decided to make a strawberry cake with chestnut flour! I'm sure that the chestnuts that I used can be used to do that, and I'll ask Rumi where I can buy ingredients.”

Fumika nodded. “Alright, I've decided on my pastry too. I'll come along with you two when you go shopping, is that alright?”

“Yes, of course!”

Soon after, class was dismissed with a reminder from Ameya-sensei to work on their projects, “While you have some time in class to work on your project, remember that this project is not just based on your participation alone. The end result of the pastry matters just as much. Okay that's all I have to say for now. Class dismissed.”

Ichigo walked with Fumika until she reached the hallway where they would need to separate. Fumika turned to Ichigo, holding out her phone. “Ichigo, we need each other's number so that we can contact each other about when to buy ingredients.”

“Oh, okay!” Ichigo took out her phone as well, exchanging it with Fumika. “I'll just text you later when I talk to Rumi about it.”

“Okay, that's fine.” Fumika said, typing her numbers onto the keypad. She closed the phone and waited until Ichigo was finished with putting her number in to exchange their phones. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you!” Ichigo beamed, skipping away.

~☆~

Fumika’s POV

Fumika sighed, huffing, If she was going do this project right, she'll need more ingredients so she might as well go with Ichigo.

She also had to visit Mari at Salon de Marie afterwards. She figured Ichigo wouldn't say no to cake.

Ichigo told the group that she was going shopping with Fumika. Kashino suddenly pulled at Ichigo’s arm. ”Before you leave, we have to do exorcism. Come with me!”

“Exorcism?!” The four of them exclaimed, confused. Kashino dragged them away and they ended up at Salon de Marie.

Fumika sweat dropped. ’Welp, looks like there's been a sudden change of plans. Oh well.’ Fumika sighed.

They enter and the counter is filled with many different selections of pastries.”Wow! There's so many sweets! I can't decide which to choose.” 

“There's one dessert that you must absolutely try.” Hanabusa stated, stopping Ichigo from going all over the sweets.

“The Angel’s pudding.” Kashino answered.

“The one that was all sold out last time we came here?” Ichigo questioned.

“Right, It the most popular sweet made by President Tennouji.” Hanabusa informed.

“Really?!” Ichigo exclaimed. “Then I have to eat it. The soufflé she made for me was absolutely delicious.”

“President Tennouji’s soufflé?!” The sweet princes yelled causing Ichigo to flinch. Fumika sighed.

“Ah...yeah. Honey pudding.” Ichigo replied, awkwardly. The Sweets Princes sulked and sat down at a table.

Kashino started muttering darkly causing the group to sweat drop.

A butler came up to Kashino and put a plate of pudding in front of him. ”Here you go.” 

“Huh? But we haven't even ordered yet.” Hanabusa complained. Ichigo being Ichigo, took a taste. She gasped loudly.

“It's… it's amazing! The eggs, milk, and rich flavor fresh cream. All of them mixed together so well that it tasted just like the sun.” Ichigo commented.

Th Sweets Princes tasted it and all agreed. A high class girl who was wearing a dramatic red apron dress showed up behind them.

“Do you like my pudding, Makoto-kun?” the girl said, batting her eyelashes dramatically. She didn't seem to notice that Kashino was almost foaming at the mouth when he spotted her.

Fumika rolled her eyes. This girl was most definitely the Ojou-san person they were talking about, and Fumika knew she was gonna be annoying.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos, guest reader!
> 
> I've added Kozakura as the co-author of this story, so she'll be able to access this on her account now.

Ichigo‘s POV

“Koshino… Miya-san?”

Ichigo watched as the redheaded girl pranced around Kashino, who was currently wide-eyed and pale. His eyes darted up to Ichigo, and it seemed that he was pleading Ichigo to do something, although she wasn’t quite sure what.

Ichigo reluctantly looked away from Kashino and to the girl, who was currently trying to hug him. “This year, we’ll definitely win the Grand Prix and travel to Paris, darling~”

“I- I’m sorry, senpai, but this year, we’ll…um...” Kashino looked straight at Ichigo, his forehead dripping with sweat. “Be grouping with Amano-san instead!” Miya’s demeanor changed completely, her deadly glare landing on Ichigo as she turned around to meet her. Ichigo hummed nervously, pointing to herself.

“What did you say?” Miya growled, narrowing her eyes at Ichigo. “Ahh… the girl that Henri Lucas recommended, huh? I heard that you can’t make crepes, even if you’re in Group A.”

Ichigo bit her nails when Vanilla flew out to yell, “She can make them now!”

Miya stopped and looked up. “What was that?”

“Just your imagination, just your imagination, haha…” Ichigo murmured as she grabbed Vanilla and put her back into her pocket. “Miya-san, although I wasn’t able to make crepes before, I’ve improved since then.”

“Amano-san.” Andou said, “How about letting her try the cake that we made in self-study earlier?”

“Okay…” 

Miya sat down at the table to take a scoop out of Ichigo’s Mont Blanc. “Hmm. What an impoverished flavor. It seems that Henri Lucas isn’t a good judge of character after all.” Ichigo’s head snapped up, squinting at Miya as she frowned. “Makoto-kun, you would be better off grouping with me instead of that!”

“Don’t… don’t talk about Henri-sensei like that!” Ichigo shouted. The people around her turned to look at her, shocked.

“What, what’s wrong with being honest? Isn’t it true that he’s a bad judge of character?”

“You shouldn’t judge him because of something like that! I- I’ll make pudding more more delicious than yours!”

“Oh, is that so?” Miya’s half-lidded eyes and small smile radiated smugness. “Do it if you can. If you do, I’ll completely take back what I said. If you don’t, well… the sweets princes will be grouping with me instead! Don’t worry, your team will be better off even if you lose.”

“Fine!”

~☆~  
Fumika’s pov

Fumika stayed silent when Mari Tennouji came by their table to reprimand the sweets princes for being so loud. They had been clamoring over Ichigo’s sudden decision, which would affect more than just herself.

She was angry on the inside. How dare Miya talk about Henri like that. But she knew she should just keep quiet.

The group were shocked when Mari came over and scolded them.” I'm sorry.” Ichigo apologized.

Miya got in front of Mari and interrupted Ichigo. ”President, please allow our pudding battle!”

“What foolishness are you speaking about?…” Mari mumbled, looking away 

“Hohoho, Interesting isn't it? Why not agree to it, Tennouji-san?” The chairman exclaimed, drinking a straight black bitter coffee. ”We encourage those with determination. I'll be a judge.”

When Mari still hesitated, Fumika decided to speak up. “It's fine, isn't it? I'll be a judge as well.”

Mari finally gave in and agreed. “Understood. You'll be making the basic custard pudding. You have to select your own ingredients. The challenge will be… in 3 days time.” She informed.

“The high school standards are very high.” Mari explained.

“Hmph. Do you really think you'll be able to catch up to me in three days? It's only natural that you will lose.” Miya mocked.

“Just watch! I'll definitely make a pudding more delicious than yours.” Ichigo declared.

Ichigo stormed away to the kitchen with the sweets princes in tow. Fumika glanced back at Miya, who was currently snickering at Ichigo. This girl...

 

~☆~  
Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo watched helplessly at the piles of failed puddings that she had created. She just couldn’t get it right, it would always be too bitter or too sweet

Ichigo sighed, frustrated. She had one more day to figure it out before the competition, but even with the help of Caramel and Vanilla, she couldn’t figure out how to remove the bubbles from her puddings, even though she had tried almost everything.

She looked up at the sweets princes, expressing her problem with the bubbles and how she couldn’t replicate Miya’s pudding.

Andou asked her, “Did you use the bottom oven?” Ichigo nodded. “That one tends to bake faster than others.”

“Yeah, each oven requires extensive testing to use it properly.” Kashino added.

“Oh, okay.” 

Ichigo watched the fairies taste her past, failed creations. Caramel, strangely enough, seemed to prefer a too-sweet one to her latest pudding.

“I actually like caramel sweeter!” Caramel seemed to sing as she spooned the pudding.

“Oh…” Ichigo watched her, eyes wide. “I see!”

“Ichigo-chan, you’re going to be practicing all night, right? I’ll bring you some snacks.”

“Thank you, Hanabusa-kun, but I have something to do today.” The three boys seemed to be confused at her statements, but they didn’t say anything. Ichigo smiled, gathering her stuff as the boys slowly walked with her outside of the kitchen.

Ichigo knew just how she was going to win the battle against Miya.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry about the extremely short chapter. We had complications, but we’ll be able to make that up in the next update. See you then!

Ichigo’s POV

It was the day of the battle against Miya, and Ichigo’s teammates all seemed extremely nervous, perhaps even more nervous than her, if that was possible. As prepared as Ichigo thought herself to be, there was always the chance that she would lose. Ichigo shuddered at the thought. Not only would it be disappointing, Kashino would most likely try to kill her-- if Miya didn’t get to suffocating him with her hugs first.

Vanilla flitted around her anxiously. “Ichigo, are you ready for the competition?”

Ichigo gulped. “I- I'm as ready as I'll ever be.”

“The competition’s going to start soon, so I'll just be off there to the side. Good luck!”

Ichigo watched Vanilla fly away and she waited until the school director came in through the doors of the kitchen, with Mari alongside him. They walked in front of the two and the director sat down. Mari began speaking, “It’s time. We’ll now begin Koshiro Miya and Amano Ichigo’s match. Please make six custard puddings in two hours, three for Fumika Akahoshi and three for the school director, who will be your judges.”

The school director smiled at them cheerfully. “I expect delicious puddings!”

Fumika nodded her head. “Yes, I’m sure that both of you will do well.”

Ichigo glanced at Miya again. She was currently pulling off the smuggest expression that Ichigo had ever seen, and she looked back at Ichigo with that… irritating expression, before sending a wink to Kashino. Ichigo pressed her lips together, looking away. ‘I can’t lose this competition.’

~☆~  
Fumika’s POV

Fumika watched Ichigo’s movements carefully. She was a little curious when she saw Ichigo prepare two batches. What was Ichigo planning to do? Making two batches would only waste her time. She looked to the side, where she noticed that the Sweets Princes were confused as well.

She narrowed her eyes, watching Ichigo leave one batch heating and taking one batch out early. ’She’s doing this on purpose? What could she possibly be planning?’!

Fumika turned her attention to Miya, who was already putting her batch into the oven.

Fumika narrowed her eyes but shrugged it off. She closed her eyes and waited patiently for them to both finish.

Miya served her dish and the chairman took a bite. Fumika cut a piece, frowned, and set her spoon down without tasting it.

Ichigo set down a pudding with golden caramel in front of Fumika and a darker, browner color, in front of the chairman.

Fumika tasted it. ’Sweet. The one the chairman has is definitely bitter. Could this be her plan? Not bad.’

Fumika gave Mari her vote and so did the chairman. 

“The judges have voted and the winner is…..Amano Ichigo.” Mari announced.

~☆~  
Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo blinked at Mari, floored. She had… won? Even though Miya had used the finest eggs and milk, Ichigo had won regardless.

Miya turned around and glared at Ichigo, tears in her eyes. “Don’t get conceited, Amano Ichigo. You just got lucky this time! I’ll make you regret winning this in the Grand Prix!” She turned and stared at Kashino, a frustrated expression on her face, and stormed away with the two boys running after her.

Although Ichigo could not help but wince at Miya’s miserable expression, she was still glad that she had been able to keep her place in the team for the Grand Prix.

The team headed out into the garden, celebrating over Ichigo’s win.

“Now you don’t have to team up with Koshiro-san!” Ichigo grinned, giddy over the rush of adrenaline the competition had given her. 

“Yeah…” Kashino shivered. “She was quite scary earlier, though.”

Ichigo perked up when she noticed Mari walking towards them. “I wonder if you’ve made an enemy out of Chateau Sweets?”

“T-Tennouji-san! Thank you for everything!”

“I’m sure that everything will turn out fine.” A mischievous smile came across Mari’s face. “After all, you five all have Sweets Spirits with you.”

Ichigo, Vanilla, as well as the Sweets Princes and their fairies, gasped. Ichigo couldn’t help but notice that Fumika had no such reaction. She would ask her about that later, when she wasn’t in such a state of shock.

“I’m looking forwards to what kinds of cake you’ll create in the future.” Mari walked away, turning her head as she passed by them, a gleaming golden fairy shining by her shoulder. “Let’s meet again in the Grand Prix.”


	10. Chapter 9

Ichigo’s POV

“We'll definitely win the Grand Prix!” Ichigo shouted, suddenly passionate about a competition that she knew nothing about. Since Mari had placed her expectations on the team, and most thrillingly, Ichigo, she was determined not to let her down.

“It's not going to be so easy.” Kashino interrupted. “With your current skill set, it's not possible to win the Grand Prix.”

Ichigo frowned. “But-”

“He's right.” Fumika stated, stepping in between the two. “I'm sorry Ichigo, but you still have a long way to go before there's even a possibility to win in the first round.”

“I won this competition! I know that we can win if we try hard enough!”

“Ichigo…” Hanabusa said gently. “Yes, we will be able to win if we give it our all, but we need more than just that.”

“The Grand Prix is tough.” Andou added. “Effort alone won’t bring you to the finals.”

“Oh…” Ichigo murmured.

“You’re being too happy over a small achievement like this.” Kashino said, following the others as they walked away from the garden. “Although you’ve improved, it’s far from the improvement that you need in order to win.”

Ichigo stood there, stricken by their brutal honesty. “Why? I thought that I had finally become worthy of being a part of group A… why won’t they let me in?”

Vanilla fidgeted. “Ichigo, they’re being tough on you because they care about you! Don’t you understand how they feel?”

“How should I know?” Ichigo shook her head, her accusing eyes staring right at Vanilla. “Vanilla, you’re my partner! Shouldn’t you understand how I feel? Shouldn’t you be on my side?”

 

“Ichigo, you blockhead!” Vanilla shouted, clenching her fists. “Alright, I won’t be your partner anymore then… I don’t care anymore!”

“Vanilla…” Ichigo’s lips quivered as she watched her fly away. “Why is this happening to me?”

Ichigo sniffed, her shoulders drooping as she slowly walked back to her dorm. Even though today had been such a good day, she had ruined it with her overconfidence. It was still unfair that no one had sided her. She had won the competition, so wasn’t it only natural that she got a boost of confidence from that? If it had been too much, they still could’ve given her leniency.  
As she opened the door to the dorm, a voice called out to her. “Ichigo! I was just looking for you.”

Ichigo hesitated, wiping her eyes before she turned around. Rumi was standing there, waving at her. Ichigo jogged to her side. “Oh, hey Rumi! Do you need me for something?”

“As a matter of fact…” Rumi leaned in, whispering, “There’s someone here to meet you. They asked me to bring you over to them.”

Ichigo tilted her head. “Who is it?”

“It’s… a… secret~” Rumi grinned. “Come on, it’s better if you see them in person anyway.”

Ichigo watched Rumi curiously, walking behind her. Who was this person that Rumi was so excited for her to see?

“Come quickly Ichigo, we’re going to the school’s kitchen.”

Again? Ichigo had just left there about half an hour ago because of the… competition. She didn’t want to think about it.

Rumi threw open the kitchen doors, rushing towards a tall figure with blonde hair. Ichigo squinted at the figure.

“Henri-sensei?!”

~  
Fumika’s POV

Fumika huffed and stood beside Henri as they waited for Ichigo to run towards them. ”Henri-sensei, I didn’t know you were in Japan!” Ichigo exclaimed.

“I arrived yesterday and I came to visit the school today, I'm sorry I couldn't come earlier, I was busy.” Henri explained. ”I asked Fumika to ask you to meet me here.”

Ichigo looked at Fumika with a questioning expression. However, it seemed as if she was still sensitive over what had just happened in the garden, as Ichigo didn’t probe Fumika about it. “How long will you be staying here in Japan?” Ichigo asked.

“A while, most likely until the end of the Grand Prix. I have some business here.” Henri informed.

Fumika rolled her eyes, knowing exactly the reason Henri needed to stay. she decided to just remain quiet about it.

“The Grand Prix? are you going to be watchin?” Ichigo questioned, getting excited 

Fumika rolled her eyes. ’Forget just watching, he'll be judging all of us.’

“Yes, I plan to be there.” Henri answered.”Are you going to enter, Ichigo-chan?”

“Yes.” Ichigo seemed in thought for a sec.”Henri-sensei, is there anyway to improve faster for the Grand Prix?”

“Improve faster for the Grand Prix? If I had to say, just make sure you study the basics and prepare yourself.” Henri advised

Ichigo nodded enthusiastically and excitedly, causing Fumika to sigh. ”Oh that’s right, Fumika, um, are you going to compete in the Grand Prix?”

Henri turned to Fumika who was behind him. Fumika glanced at Henri quickly before looking back to Ichigo.”Who knows, only time will tell.”

Ichigo nodded and left it at that. “Ichigo, we better hurry back to the dorm, We have to get ready.” Rumi interrupted 

Ichigo nodded in agreement. ”Yeah, you’re right. Bye Henri-sensei.” Henri waved back as they walked out.

Fumika waited until Henri turned back to face her. He hummed. “Is there something wrong with you and Ichigo? She didn’t seem to want to talk to you.”

Fumika averted her gaze to the ground. ”The team had a disagreement about Ichigo not being ready for the Grand Prix. I kind of told her that she still has a long way to go.” 

“Fumika.” Henri started, disappointed.” You know that Ichigo is sensitive about that because she’s already not sure about her skills to begin with.”

Fumika nodded.”I know it wasn't right of me but I couldn't stop myself.”

Henri sighed. ”It can't be help, just find a way to apologize.” Fumika nodded hesitantly. “Have you considered what we discussed?”

Fumika finally looked up and gave a determined nod. “Yes, and I wanna do it. After the Grand Prix, I'll carry through with the plan.”

Henri nodded. ”Good choice, I believe you'll be great.” Henri assured.

Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo gasped, stopping Rumi in her tracks. “What is it, Ichigo?”

“Rumi… isn’t the project final tomorrow? We need to go buy our ingredients!” She rummaged through her bag, taking out her cell phone. “I’ll call Fumika while you lead the way. I think that she hasn’t gotten her ingredients yet either.”

“Wait for a minute, I need to go back to the dorm to get my list of ingredients and some money. I’ll grab your wallet for you.” Rumi stated 

“Okay.” Ichigo agreed, dialing Fumika’s phone number. She waited until Fumika answered. “Hello, Fumika? Rumi and I are going to buy ingredients for tomorrow. Can you come now?”

“Alright, I'll come. I've got one more ingredient to buy as well.” Fumika said.

“Okay, please hurry!” Ichigo looked at the time on her phone. “I think the bus will come soon.”

“I'm ready. I'll meet you guys there.” Fumika replied.

~One Day Later~

“Alright, today we have a very special guest in our class. He’s very busy, but he’s kindly agreed to take part in our lesson today.” Ameya-sensei stepped to the side, waiting as Henri walked into the classroom. “Everybody, welcome Henri-san into our classroom!”

The class erupted into cheers. Ichigo waved excitedly when Henri bowed, eyes glancing towards group A. He smiled. “I look forward to seeing everybody’s creation. I’m sure that there will be some interesting and creative sweets being made here today.”

“That’s Henri Lucas! I heard he’s one of the top chefs in the world.” A girl declared in the table behind Ichigo.

“I also heard that!” Another student offered. “Wasn’t he one of the teachers in the Paris branch of Saint Marie?”

“I never knew…” Ichigo said, noting the conversation. It seemed that there were still many things that she didn’t know about Henri.

“Alright class, settle down, settle down. Today we are finishing our final projects, which was assigned a few days ago. I expect everyone to have their recipes and ingredients ready for today. You may begin.”Ameya-sensei stated

Everyone started working on their projects as Henri and Ameya walked around. Ichigo quickly brought out her chestnut flour. She had to find a grinder to make this from her gathered chestnuts, and they had small lumps in it. She hoped that they would be gone when she mixed the ingredients together.

Ichigo planned on making a strawberry shortcake with chestnut flour as the base. 

As Ichigo finished her creation, she looked over at her team’s cakes. Kashino was making a chocolate cake with a shiny glaze, Andou was making matcha roll decorations balls, Hanabusa was making a cake that was covered in candy roses, and Fumika was making a cake with a galaxy glazed design that looked like space and had cream surrounding the bottom of the cake.

Ichigo gazed at all of their cakes in admiration. They all seemed so beautiful and unique in their own way. 

Ameya-sensei walked towards Ichigo. “Ichigo, it seems like your cake has been completed. Please bring it forwards so that we can grade it.”

“Okay, here,” Ichigo brought out two plates of her cake. “I created a strawberry shortcake, but instead of wheat or grain flour, I used chestnut flour to make the taste different. I collected the chestnuts from school grounds and ground it up to make the flour.”

Ichigo watched nervously as the two tasted her her cake, she hoped that the chestnuts have been fully grounded.

“It’s very interesting. The flour does clash a little with the sweetness of the strawberry, but nevertheless it is still a balanced cake.” Ameya-sensei mused. “82 points.”

“It does have a rather… strange taste, and the egg whites seem to have been beaten until they became too stiff. Along with that, the cream is rather bland.” Henri judged. ”However, it’s unique, and incorporating chestnut flour into the cake is a great idea. 75 points.”

“Oh, okay…” Ichigo uttered, disappointed at their rather low scores.

“Ichigo, your creativity score is 83, so your final score is a total of 80.” Ameya-sensei announced.


	11. Chapter 10

Fumika’s POV

“Nijino-san, are you done as well?” Ameya asked, after judging the other Sweets Prince.

“Hai, just a minute.” Fumika answered, finishing the last of her cake.

“Kanzai!” She showed her cake to the two of them,”It's called Marble Glaze.”

Both tasted her cake.”Hmm...It's delicious! The cream is really well beaten and the designs are really creative. The cake looks like outer space and the sponge is really smooth. 98 points.” Ameya-sensei commented.

“ The eggs are well beaten but the glaze is a little sluggish and hasn't been mixed well but the design was a really good idea. It's a little too sweet though so would check how much sugar you put in.” Henri commented.”86 points.”

Fumika hide a roll of her eyes. ‘86? please, your too kind. If I'm guessing right, I need a lot more practice and knowing him, my true score is like 70 or something. I need to focus on practicing more.’

“Nijino-san’s creative points are 95 and your final score is 93 points.” Ameya-sensei announced.

Fumika started straightening her work area as Ameya-sensei talked. “The project has been very successful and I'm sure everyone learned a lot. That will be all for today.” 

Fumika finished and stayed the kitchen as everyone began to fill out. Henri stayed back to talk to Ameya-sensei for a while until they both left and parted ways.

Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo shot up from her seat to follow Henri, but Kashino pulled her back by the arm. His eyes were narrowed and his frown twisted. “Amano, you’re not going anywhere. You know your latest cake isn’t anywhere near good enough for the Grand Prix, yet you still think that we’ll win?”

Ichigo gulped. “I- I'll practice, Kashino! I just need to talk to Henri-sensei about something.”

“You can talk to him after we discuss the Grand Prix.” Kashino said stubbornly, not letting go of his grip on her arm.

“Umm… okay, okay! Let's just talk about it really quickly. I’ll get the rest of the team members so we don't have to take too long telling the others.” Ichigo rushed to collect the other team members, who were in the process of leaving. “Andou-kun, Hanabusa-kun, Fumika-chan! We're going to talk about the Grand Prix if you have time!”

Andou and Hanabusa looked at each other and nodded their heads. “We’ll be able to stay for a while.” Andou stated.

However, Fumika shook her head. “I'm afraid I have something to do right now. I can catch up tomorrow.”

“Aww, okay. I'll text you about our plans.” Ichigo turned to the remaining three. “So! The Grand Prix!”

“We need to make a schedule for you to improve as fast as possible.” Kashino instructed. “The three of us have decided that we can teach you the different aspects of the basics so you can start on an even platform. If Fumika wants to, she can help you as well. I haven’t decided what you need to work on yet, but you also need a hand in planning it.”

“Okay, I see! I’ll research it tonight, don’t worry.” Ichigo drummed her fingers against the countertop. “Since we’re done here, can I leave now?”

The three boys looked at each other, sweatdropping. Kashino coughed. “I guess we’re done for today. Go ahead.”

Fumika’s POV

Fumika waited a few more minutes before heading towards the garden. There Henri was waiting. “I wanna know your true opinion about the cake.”

“There has been much improvement in your pastries. I expect you to continue practicing, you've been lacking behind a bit.” Henri stated.

“Of course, I have gotten a little distracted these few days. I'll get back to my usually routine and practice as much as I can before the end of the Grand Prix.” Fumika assured

Henri nodded in agreement. “Do the others know about this decision?” Fumika shook her head.” So it'll be like a disappearance?” 

“You know how I am, I don't like sappy goodbye and who knows, maybe it's not necessary. I want this to be a secret.” Fumika answered.

“I guess it can't be help if you want it that way. Just know that we'll be leaving right after the Grand Prix.” Henri stated

“Yes, I understand.” Fumika nodded. “What’s your judgement on Ichigo and her improvement?”

“My judgement wasn't wrong, she has a unique potential. I would love to teach her.” Henri answer.

Fumika faltered a bit but composed herself. “You’re right, she's improving pretty fast.” 

“She does seem to be improving quickly. Anyways, since we’ve decided what you’re going to do for the Grand Prix, just contact me if you need help with it. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.” Fumika said, turning away to walk towards the dorm.


	12. Chapter 11

Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo rushed out of the kitchen, with Vanilla trailing after her, eyes darting around the place to search for any clue of where Henri could be. She spotted him, and slowed down to walk towards him, about to call out to him when she noticed that Fumika was next to him, discussing something with him.

“Anyways,” Ichigo overheard Henri say, “Since we’ve decided what you’re going to do for the Grand Prix, just contact me if you need help with it. See you tomorrow.”

Ichigo ducked behind a bush so that Henri and Fumika wouldn’t see her when they walked out of the garden. She watched as the two split and Fumika walked towards the dorm. 

“What is Fumika planning to do during the Grand Prix?” She murmured to Vanilla. “I thought that she was just going to enter with us…”

Vanilla tapped her chin, frowning. “Well, Fumika may have her own plans, but I don’t think that she’ll be keeping that a secret for long.”

They watched as Fumika reached the dorm and walked inside. Ichigo stood up, brushing grass off of her skirt and followed Fumika inside.

Vanilla flew in front of her. “Ichigo, let’s wait until she wants to tell us about her plans, okay? She’ll tell us sooner or later, and it’s better to not be nosy.”

Ichigo nodded. Although she wanted ask Fumika about what her plan was for the Grand Prix, it was probably better if Fumika just told the team herself.

Fumika’s POV

Fumika returned to her dorm and pulled out her pink suitcase. She started packing her clothes and other stuff.

Fumika continued until there were only a few things left in the room before going over to her flip phone.

She quickly dialed a number Henri had given to her before. “Bonjour! Je t'aime Hotel welcomes you. How may we assist you?”

“I'd like to make a reservation for a room in a month. Please make the reservation under the name of Nijino Fumika.” Fumika answered.

“Oui, of course. I'll just need a few things from you and then I'll set the reservation for you.” The person on the other line answered.”

“Of course no problem, just a sec.” Fumika grabbed a few things from her purse before returning to the phone and giving the info.

“Okay, your all set! Je t'aime Hotel wishes you a fantastic stay. We'll have your suite ready in by the time you arrive.” The female said.

“Great thanks.” Fumika replied, hanging up. She instantly started dialing a different number. “Hello, this is Fumika. I'm sure Henri has told you about me.”

“Ah, yes, we've been eagerly awaiting your decision. Henri has informed us of your choice. I'd like to get started right away. Is that possible?” A man asked.

“Of course, I'd like to get started as well, however, I'd implore you to wait until after the Japan Grand Prix. Afterwards, I'll head to Paris with Henri and we can begin.” Fumika assured.

“Ah, of course, the Grand Prix. We'll be waiting for you. We've got everything ready here.” He answered.

“Great! I've just view over the details and we'll be there in a few days. It's a pleasure to be working with you. If you need anything, call me on this phone number.” Fumika exclaimed before exchanging their goodbyes. 

Fumika sighed, looking around her room. “Look like we’re going to Paris. Are you really sure about this?” Sucre asked

“What’s there to think about? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I may miss out on something if I decline.” Fumika sighed.

“It's true that it would be an opportunity but there's no point if you're not happy about the decision.” Cream exclaimed, patting Fumika shoulder. 

Ichigo’s POV

It had been a week since Ichigo and Vanilla overheard Fumika and Henry’s conversation, but there was no hint that Fumika was ever going to bring up her plans for the Grand Prix. 

“Vanilla…” Ichigo muttered, “Is Fu mika going to tell us about what she's doing during the Grand Prix? I'm really worried about her.”

“Maybe her Sweets Spirits will tell us something about that.” Vanilla considered.

After they left Ichigo’s room, they parted ways. Ichigo knew that Fumika was practicing at the school kitchens, and Vanilla had suggested that she go talk to her sweets spirits while Fumika and Ichigo were talking.

“Ichigo, make sure that Fumika’s not suspicious about what you’re doing, or else we might get caught…”

“Okay!”

3rd Person POV

Vanilla flew to Fumika’s room, anxious to quickly reach Fumika’s room before Ichigo messed everything up and got Fumika suspicious. Ichigo was well-meaning, but not exactly the most reliable person.

Fluttering her wings, she scanned for an opening into Fumika’s room. Luckily, Fumika had left the door slightly ajar, probably to allow her Sweets Spirits to escape her room and explore. She slowed her fluttering and slowly entered.

Cream and Sucre had a recipe book open on the bed and they were taking turns flipping the page as they gazed at the different type of recipes throughout the book. They giggled and laughed, looking at all the delicious sweets.

Vanilla grinned mischievously. Might as well get some fun out of all this trouble.

The two sweets spirit continued their activities until Sucre was about to let go of a page and glanced up to talk to Cream, but she gasped when she saw Vanilla there, trying to creep by.

Vanilla froze.

“What is it, Sucre?” Cream asked as she floated over to Sucre and glanced in the direction Sucre was staring. She squeaked when she saw Vanilla there, frozen in shock.

Well… this was awkward.

Fumika’s POV

Fumika was practicing on perfecting her souffle recipe by making her own ingredients and creating her own souffle that would taste better then Mari’s when she heard a nervous squeaky voice talking to her.

The voice laughed nervously. “Hi there Fumika! I just wanted to see what you were practicing because I need to practice as well for the Grand Prix. Kashino is nagging me to practice so I decided that I wanna see how everyone’s practicing… and, um, yeah! Can I watch?”

Fumika turned around and spotted Ichigo, she stared confused but nodded slowly and turned back to her souffle in front of her. To the side were many other different type of souffles.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Fumika noticed that Ichigo was lingering curiously above her souffles. “Fumika, can I taste one of your souffles?”

Although it looked like Fumika wasn’t paying attention, she nodded slightly and went back to working on her new batch of souffles. There was no point in saying no, after all.

Ichigo tasted the strawberry souffle “It's amazing! the sweet strawberry mixes with the smooth and fluffy souffle.” she said, her eyes closed and her face expressed dreaminess.

Fumika muttered a short, “Thanks”, before she looked away to put her souffles in the oven.

Ichigo shuffled her feet and looked down at the ground. “Fumika, why are you making so many souffles? This can’t possibly be just for a snack.”

Fumika remained silent for a few moments before finally reply with a short, “None of these are good enough.”

Ichigo frowned. “But the one I tasted was really good! Fumika, you shouldn’t beat yourself up and over-perfecting everything. You’ll make yourself worried sick that way.”

Fumika stopped, sighed, and took a deep breath. “Ichigo, just because you think that it’s good enough doesn’t mean it’s good enough for the judges or whoever else is tasting it.”

“I- it is good though!” Ichigo stuttered, face flushing and eyebrows furrowed, “I mean, if you gave it to Ameya-sensei and she tasted it, she would give you a good grade and-”

“ENOUGH!” Fumika roared, slamming her hands on the table. “Grades aren’t what decides whether you get a place in this world, hard work does. And looking at you, it’s clear you won’t make it far.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:  
> Skylight: Hey everyone! Sorry for not updating in soooooo long, but we’re finally ready to continue writing this story. We’ve wanted to continue for a long time, but school and life got in our way. We’re both really bogged down with school work, and we can hardly keep up as it is. Now, however, we’ve organized ourselves and planned out how we’re going to finish this. Hope that you like this chapter! Fumika is so ferocious lol
> 
> Kozakura: Sorry everyone! we have both been so preoccupied but I promise that we'll start working on the remaining chapters for this book. the book is about to end soon but there will be a sequel so look forward to it. We will start working in earnest to update and finish this book. thank you for be so patient with us and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. See y'all next time.


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! We decided to change our upload date to every Saturday so we have time to do homework. Also, terribly sorry for that unannounced hiatus (again;;), we just had a lot of things to deal with in school.

Fumika’s POV

Ichigo’s eyes widened. She blinked rapidly, eyes sweeping between Fumika and the oven every seconds. Her voice trembled as she whispered, “The soufflé deflated.”

She couldn't run out of the kitchen fast enough.

Fumika’s eyes silently following her retreating figure. She kept her eyes on the door for a moment before she sighed quietly and went back to practicing.

3rd Person POV

The awkwardness had little to do with Vanilla getting caught than with Vanilla’s extremely… unique pose when they confronted her. She was tip-toe-ing behind them, and it might have looked perfectly reasonable had she been walking on the bed behind them.

She had not.

Vanilla had been floating in the air, one leg dramatically raised and walking in slow motion to scare the three sweets spirits.

Sucre and Cream starred at Vanilla with a both confused yet amused look

“Soooo, Vanilla, care to tell us why you’re trying to sneak around?” Cream questioned, with Sucre nodding her head along.

“I- I-” Vanilla stuttered, “I was just dropping by and… wanted to surprise you guys! What are you guys up to?”

They gave her a suspicious look, but shrugged their shoulders. Sucre said, “We were just flipping through a recipe book and looking for something delicious to make.”

“Oh, really, sounds great. So do you guys know what you’re gonna do for the Grand Prix?” Vanilla asked.

Sucre and Cream stopped from their activities again and turn to her, confused, “The Grand Prix?”

“Yeah the Grand Prix. You know, what Ichigo and the other Sweets Princes have been practicing for.” Vanilla elaborated.  
“Oh yeah that, Well you see, Fumika’s really busy and already has plans so we’re not gonna be competing in the Grand Prix.” Sucre hesitantly informed.

“Plans? Something that’s more important than the Grand Prix?! Do you know what it she’s planning on doing?” Vanilla asked, trying to make it look like she was just curious.

Sucre and Cream both look at each other and sweatdropped, both hesitant to say anything that may anger Fumika when they told her about this.

“Well-” Sucre began but was cut off when the door burst open and a sad looking Ichigo ran through Fumika’s room. “Vanilla,” Ichigo’s voice was shaky and tense, “C-come on, let’s go.”

Vanilla worriedly glanced at the two Sweets Spirits, who glanced back at her with a perplexed look and she rose up to follow Ichigo out of the room. 

Fumika POV

Galaxi flew into the kitchen happily, “Yo! What’s up, Fumi-” she stops when she sensed tension in the air. “Um...Did something happen?”

Creme and Sucre flew in with worried looks and spotted the mess of Souffle, They both flew over to Fumika and tired to comfort her.

“Creme, Sucre, what happened while I was gone? Why does Fumika look so sad?” Galexi asked, flying over to the group.

“We caught Vanilla in the bedroom and started talking to her when Ichigo suddenly came out of the kitchen where Fumika was and it look like she was crying.” Sucre whispered in Galexi’s ears

“WHAT?! That girl, she must have said something to Fumika and caused her to get upset!” Galexi fumed, “Fumi, what did she say?”

“Nothing Galy, I just snapped cause of all the stress lately and I was tired so I took it out on Ichigo.” Fumika explained

“Fumika~” Galexi complained.

“I’m sorry, I should get some sleep, we have a big day coming soon and i need to be at my full self to be ready for it.” Fumika mumbled, excusing herself to her bedroom

The three sweets spirits starred after her with concern before they looked to each other and all followed Fumika to the bedroom

Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo quietly entered her room and waited for Vanilla to follow her before she closed the door. She walked to her bed and started to furiously wipe at her eyes, which were brimming with unspilled tears.

Vanilla gasped, and she flew to Ichigo’s side. “What’s wrong, Ichigo? Did something happen with Fumika? Why are you crying?”

Ichigo hiccupped, eyes red from the tears irritating them. “We just argued over something stupid. Really stupid… and Fumika got mad.”

Vanilla frowned, but didn’t comment. She flew up to Ichigo’s head and patted her. “Don’t worry Ichigo, she won’t be mad at you forever, especially if it was really about something dumb.”

“I guess,” Ichigo sniffed, smiling up at Vanilla, “I hope so.”

(」゜ロ゜)」♥ Timeskip ♥

Fumika’s POV

Fumika sighed as she watched the screen where different teams entered different routes a few at a time and some fail and some barely pass the trial.

Fumika sighed, sick of all the people who failed the basic test and some who couldn’t even pass the first stage of the trial. Some passed but they all seem cocky or most depended on pure luck for some of the rounds.

Henri walked up behind Fumika who sat in her chair watching the screen, he pulled up a chair and sat down, “Dissatisfied?”

“Like I’m the only one, we both know that you’re just as disappointed as me with what we’re seeing. So many young Patissieres yet none of them have a potential even close to the golden age.” Fumika sighed.

“Before, I would have criticized you for being so harsh but now, I actually understand why you were so angry with what you saw.” Fumika added.

Henri stared at the screen, zoning into his thoughts, “You’ve come a long way, I’m surprised that you actually blew up on Ichigo of all people.”

Fumika blinked to hide her surprise, knowing that Henri would be the one to find out about these things without anyone telling him

“You were right when you said that I had a lot to learn about the Patissier world and about myself. I never thought it would be this deep.” Fumika sighed

“Do you understand now? The pressure as a professional to live up to expectations and the golden ages. The world you have seen is the true Patissiere world.” Henri stated

Fumika sighed as she watched Ichigo walk into a examination room and her teammates following into different rooms

“After so long, I finally understand your view. Now I see why you’ve been putting up the facade and now the pressure was too much for me as well.” Fumika mumbled, loud enough for Henri to hear.

“It became too much for me and I started distancing myself until it came to the point I was ready to explode. Ichigo just so happen to be the one there when I exploded and then...I took it out on her...her who did nothing but tried to live up to me.” Fumika added.

Henri just sat and listened, knowing Fumika needed to let it all out. “To think it was this hard. But for some reason, I don’t wanna quit just yet. Because I know that I can and that I’ll find my breakthrough soon.” Fumika explained.

The two sat in silence, knowing that the conversation was over. Henri stood up and ruffled Fumika’s hair before leaving to continue with his work, leaving Fumika by herself staring at the screen with a barely visible blush.

Ichigo’s POV

Ichigo’s heart was pounding as she reached the last door of the preliminary round. Her entire team’s future was dependant on whether or not she was competent enough to pass this round. If she was the one to hold her team back, she would be crushed. 

Ichigo squeezed her eyes shut and let her hand rest on the handle of the door, letting out a breath, and turned it.

Behind the door, Kashino, Ando, and Hanabusa stood, smiling at her. “You passed the test, Ichigo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kozakura: Hey Everyone! Thanks for waiting sooo long as at last here is chapter 12, It looks like Ichigo and Fumika have gotten into a bit of a fight but let's hope it all works out soon. Awwwww, Henri and Fumika are just soo cute together ♥♥ Poor Fumika, she’s just had so much to deal with that she just blew up on Ichigo, Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll find herself soon. We are drawing close to the end of this fanfiction but don’t worry, there will be a sequel soon of when they are in Paris and of season 2 of Yumeiro Patissiere. Look forward to it!!! Bye see you all next week
> 
> skylight: Hiii! I really hope that we’ll be able to stick to our intended schedule this time, but our school work is really too much. Especially one of our teachers…. Anyway, see you next week! (Hopefully)


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kozakura: Hello everyone! Welcome to the 13th chapter of this book. The Grand prix has begun and soon the story may draw to a close, but don’t worry, there will be a sequel of when they are in Paris and the Paris Grand prix. In this episode, we shall follow Team Ichigo as they prepare for battle.
> 
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> skylight: Also, we’re so sorry for updating late! I had to write an essay that was due yesterday, and since most of the chapter was Ichigo’s POV, we couldn’t finish it.

 

**Ichigo’s POV**

 

Their team had, so far, won a battle against the intimidating group that was a group of third years called Team Ichimatsu. They helped Hanabusa with his rose pound cake in which they combined all their pound cakes to make a rose shape.

The next round was announced that they would be going against Team Lemon, who were transfer students from the Paris branch

Even after their success, Ichigo was still nervous about the next match against Team Lemon. Both Kashino and Hanabusa had both suspected that their group were wolves in sheep’s clothing; they may have looked cute and harmless, especially since they were only first years, but they had malicious intentions.

Ichigo decided to follow Rumi’s advice and get to know them better. As she said, “know the enemy and the battle will be a breeze”. She had to have more of an advantage here, since her team were dealing with such a formidable group.

“They aren’t just ordinary first years.” Kashino warned, after they had watched the tape of Team Lemon’s first match.

Ichigo looked at her team nervously. If even Kashino was this agitated about this, then what should she be feeling about this match?

Ichigo shook her head. ‘ _Be positive, Ichigo!_ ’. “Come on, guys!” She stood up, smiling cheerfully, “It’s true that they’re amazing, but our pound cake got praised by the chairman as well, right?”

Andou, who had been silently watching the tape the whole time, suddenly asserted quietly, “If we had gone against them in the first round, we would’ve lost in terms of skill.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll work with a different kind of cake. We’ll just have to win with that.” Kashino interjected.

“That’s right!” Hanabusa said, “Now that we know the true potential of our rivals, we just have to add extra care in making sure that we win.”

“All right, let’s do our best!” Ichigo and Vanilla cheered.

 

**Fumika’s POV**

 

Fumika watched Team Ichigo silently as they started discussing about their opponents and how their skills were lacking.

She noticed that all of them were anxious about the battle, but her eyes zoomed into Andou who was sweating as he watched the screen.

Fumika took her phone out and searched up the names of Team Lemon until her eyes landed on Mantarou Kujou.

Fumika scanned his info and found that his family owned a well established Japanese Confectionery in Kyoto and the young master of their house won the national Japanese Confectionery competition.

Fumika smirked, “Ah, Andou knows about Kujou’s family background and is getting intimidated by it. This seems like it will be an interesting battle.”

Fumika hummed as she closed as her phone and snuck out of there before they noticed her and headed back to Henri to report

She knew that Team Ichigo would struggle in this battle now that Andou was caught up in nerves and that Ichigo seemed to think Team Lemon were easy.

The day of the competition came and Fumika watched the match through the monitors, and she watched that it would be individual match up.

Looks like  Henri had took a liking her idea when she proposed that they held individual matches within a team and applied the idea with the staff who’ve agreed.

The round began and everyone took their positions next to their opponents, matching Andou with Kujou and Ichigo with Lemon. Lemon immediately _‘innocently_ ’ offer Ichigo that they should both use the same ingredients and Ichigo being Ichigo, agreed.

Ichigo decided she wanted to use Strawberries and Lemon offered to use it with the orange. Ichigo agreed as Lemon also slipped in Kiwis

Fumika sighed knowing what Lemon’s intentions were when Ichigo stated that she had never used Kiwi’s in jelly before.

Fumika watched as Ichigo made the foolish mistake of using her Kiwi as is while Lemon did the right thing and boiled her Kiwi before they put their mixes in the fridge and she also caught the look of victory in Lemon’s eyes.

Fumika sighed shaking her head, knowing that Ichigo already lost that round already cause she didn’t have a fruit jelly to compete with Lemon at all and that Andou was most likely sleep deprived.

 

**Ichigo’s POV**

 

When Ichigo moved to take the gelatin out of the fridge, she froze when she noticed a slight sheen and a watery movement in the gelatin. No… it couldn’t be. She hung her head down in shame as she moved hers to the table.

The fruits jelly hadn’t jellified, and it was just a watery mess when she tried to move it from the pan onto the plate. She was lucky that her teammates didn’t notice yet, but it didn’t matter because soon everyone in the stadium would know.

Ichigo was sweating bullets as they stood in front of the judges. When they announced that they would start grading, Lemon piped up, “The winner of this match has already been decided for the fruit jelly before tasting.”

Ichigo yelped, turning her head only to be met with her teammates’ questioning looks.

“I completed mine,” Lemon said, after the judges questioned her, “but Ichigo senpai’s…”

It seemed to Ichigo as if the entire place turned their eyes to her fruits jelly, which was laying in a miserable pile on her plate. Her teammates gaped at it, and Kashino could only stutter as he raised his fist in anger. “You…!”

“I’m sorry!” Ichigo warbled, “I don’t know what went wrong, but the gelatin didn’t solidify…”

“That’s because you didn’t boil the kiwi. There are enzymes in kiwis that will dissolve proteins.” One of the judges explained, “If you use it without boiling, the gelatin will be digested.”

Ichigo heard Andou gasp. “You purposefully chose kiwis because you knew that Amano-san didn’t know about them!” He accused, stalking towards Lemon as he glared at her.

“Stop it, Andou.” Kashino held his hand out to block Andou. “It’s Ichigo’s own fault for not even knowing the very basics. Besides, I had already taken into account that she would lose.”

“No way…” Ichigo wailed.

However, the team wasn’t going down without a fight. Both Hanabusa and Kashino had won their matches because of their elegant designs, and Ichigo was confident in Andou’s skills. 

However, Andou, due to his sleep deprivation, had miscalculated the amount of sugar he put in and lost. Ichigo stared at him worriedly. Andou looked like he was beating himself up mentally for this small mistake.

Lemon, who had a hint of relief in her eyes, turned and smirked at Ichigo. “This makes it a draw. We’ll see each other at the rematch.”


	15. Chapter 14

 

**Fumika’s POV**

 

Fumika was currently on the phone with Henri, informing him about how the quarterfinals went and about Team Ichigo.

 

“So it ended up being a tie with Ichigo and Andou losing, and Kashino and Hanabusa winning?” Henri clarified.

 

Fumika nodded as she gazed upon the water and the flowers, “Yeah, Ichigo ended up losing because of the Kiwi and Andou lost because of his fear causing sleep deprivation. Kashino and Hanabusa-kun both won their matches.”

 

“I see. So have they decided what they were going to do with the match?” Henri asked through the phone. He had left the academy to complete a business and asked Fumika to call and tell him about how the quarterfinals went. 

 

“Yeah. They has a quick debate and decided it would be best to give it one more chance and have a rematch between the two teams and the theme is ‘friendship.” Fumika informed

 

“Well then, do call after it’s over and inform me on how it went. The Grand Prix is slowly coming to an end and soon we will leave for Paris. Are you ready?” Henri remindedly questioned

 

Fumika’s movements stopped short as she clenched her hand but took a deep breath, “Yeah, I’m ready, on your signal we’ll leave for Paris and get ready for the Paris Grand Prix.” Fumika answer unwaveringly.

 

“Good.” Fumika knew that his face was probably serious and stern after hearing her claim.”After The Grand Prix, we congratulate the winners and give the team the invite to the Paris Grand Prix, We will leave immediately afterwards.” Henri informed.

 

Fumika gave a solemn nod and okay signaling she understood, There was a moment of silence before Fumika spoke up, “Um...I.”

 

Fumika paused, her face full of hesitation as she remember what Henri did the day of the beginning of the Grand Prix. Her hand automatically went to the top of her hair as a blush surfaced across her cheeks

 

She then remember Henri’s attitude and how he complain to her subtly that he hated how Marie relied and depended on him. She shook her head to get rid of the blush and took a deep breath, “Nevermind, It’s not important. I’ll call you when I have the results.”

 

With that said, Fumika didn’t even wait for Henri’s answer as she hung up and sighed. She looked at all the flowers and the lake, she shook her head with a silent determination before standing up and heading toward her.

 

**Ichigo’s POV**

 

“I heard that all of you turned in notifications of absence.” Lemon said, smirking. “I was getting worried that you turned your backs and ran away.” She stood in front of them on the stairs, a hand on her hips. 

 

Ichigo smiled as she looked back at her teammates. “Sorry to disappoint you, but you’re wrong. In order to understand the prompt, we took a trip to deepen our friendship.” The four had gone to Andou’s family restaurant after he had run away, and there Ichigo had truly realized the bonds between the Sweets Princes and her.

 

Lemon seemed nonplussed, but still she kept up her act, turning her chin up. “I- I forgot to tell you, but at the Paris campus, I’m Henri Lucas-sensei’s favorite student. My transfer was because he said that if I was able to grasp the skills of making Japanese confectionary, I would be able to make even more wonderful sweets.”

 

Ichigo opened her mouth to speak, but Andou interjected, expression stern. “What about that? Henri-sensei isn’t the one making friendship sweets. It’s our teams. The current us are able to make unbeatable friendship sweets.”

 

Lemon looked shocked, slowly looking down, wordless.

 

As Ichigo started walking up the stairs, she patted Lemon’s shoulder. Lemon startled, looking up at her. Ichigo gave a wan smile. Lemon may have been a prodigy, but she was still young. To have all this pressure on her at her age must have been daunting.

 

Kashino caught Ichigo’s cuff. Ichigo glanced at him as he mouthed, ‘I’ll handle this.’

 

She nodded, beaming as she turned back around and ran back up the stairs after Hanabusa and Andou.

 

-o-

 

“There isn’t a very large difference between the teams,” the judge began, looking at the other judges, “but, considering the theme of ‘Friendship’, I think we can tell who the clear winner is.”

 

When scores showed themselves on the board, Ichigo cheered, eyes twinkling as she gazed at her teammates. A commotion brought her down to earth, as Lemon had escaped the judging room.

 

“Lemon-chan! Ichigo cried out, running after her. She chased her until she reached the garden, where Lemon sank down by the benches, puffing and out of breath.

 

“Lemon-chan…” Ichigo said. Lemon tensed, eyes facing the ground. “Can I talk to you?”

 

Lemon stood up and brushed off debris from her knees. “If it’s about friendship, then forget it,” she muttered.

 

“I was recommended by Henri-sensei too.” Ichigo blurted out. Lemon stared at her, eyes filled with disbelief. “But… I couldn’t do anything. I was discouraged and there were a lot of times when I wanted to quit. The Sweets Princes… they’ve helped me every step of the way and it’s thanks to them that I was able to make it this far into the Grand Prix.”

 

Lemon gave a faint smile. “Senpai, you’re too kind. I purposefully used an ingredient that you didn’t know about to make you lose.”

 

Ichigo shook her head. “No, it’s my fault for not knowing the basics.”

 

“And, I want to tell you the truth.” Lemon said, “Although I said that I came to Japan because of Henri-sensei’s recommendation, he actually scolded me for bragging that I had gotten the highest score in the Paris campus. He said that I must be able to learn from anyone, and I transferred here to understand what he meant. I wanted to see if you were as great as Henri-sensei had described.”

 

Ichigo flushed. “No way, Henri-sensei’s made me sound too awesome.”

 

“Actually,” Lemon replied, “now that I’ve met you, I think I understand what he meant. I will return to Paris, but not because I lost the match. I want to be able to be honest about to myself like you are. And… I want to start over again with Henri-sensei. Senpai, the next time we meet, I won’t lose to you, okay?”

 

Ichigo nodded, smiling from ear to ear. “Okay.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> skylight: I’m sorry for such a late update, it was all my fault. Kozakura had already written her part but I was too busy (and lazy) to write my part. Now it’s finally done!!!! Also, I want to apologize for my writing being so cheesy. I don’t know how to write any other way ;-;
> 
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> Kozakura: hi people, yeah, cheesy ending out of my control so don’t blame me for the weird unusual ending. All credits of Ichigo’s cheesiness I have no clue how that happened weird end has nothing to do with me and belong solely to the one and only Skylight! Hohohoho. Bye. See you next time.

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be updating weekly, every Saturday (hopefully) at around 6-8pm EDT. If you enjoyed it, please leave kudos and comments! Thanks again for reading and see you next update (*⌒▽⌒*)θ～♪


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